dedicated to parents wanting to be involved and effective in the education of their children
Starting a Parent Advisory Council from Scratch
There is no parent group in your school and you would like to help start one? How to begin?
Of course, there are many benefits:
• parents feel welcome in their child’s school
• parents want their voice – concerns, praise, issues – to be respected and have follow-up
• families empowered through genuine involvement […]
SCHOOL CHECKUP
Parent Advisory Councils can use this questionnaire: a) amongst themselves, or b) as a survey of school parents as a whole. Feel free to change items as needed. The PAC can use results as a foundation for discussion with the school and/or as ideas for projects to be undertaken.
(Mark with an X […]
Do’s and Don’ts for Parent Advisory Councils
The most frequently asked questions from parent groups go like this: “How can we be more effective? We are fed up with doing tea and cookies, fund-raising….We want to know how to help kids in school.”
Circumstances, whether it is the parent group itself, or the principal, have cast too […]
Don’t blame the parents. Don’t blame the kids. Don’t blame the neighborhood.
If we want effective schools let’s look at the schools.
Ron Edmonds of Harvard who put the term “Effective Schools” on the map with his speech “Some Schools Work and more Can” in 1978 said
We can whenever, and wherever we choose, successfully […]
Parent Advisory Councils in every school was the goal of a new School Act in BC in 1989. This came about after a two-year public process examining the education system (Royal Commission or Sullivan Commission). Home schooling was also brought to the fore (though never illegal) by more expansive regulations A new […]
[From Education Advisory #11, Feb. 1982. These suggestions were made 25 years ago on how parent groups can be meaningfully engaged in schools. Hopefully most of these points apply today. Comments?]
Functions of a Parent Advisory Council
School philosophy
Program and curriculum priorities
Discipline
Innovative programs
School Budget
Parent education
School facilities, grounds
Safety programs
School accreditation/evaluation
Community use of facilities
Route to follow […]
[From Education Advisory #11, Feb. 1982. These are suggestions made 25 years ago about how parent groups can be meaningfully involved in their schools. Hopefully, most of these points apply today. Comments?]
A parent group can initiate, develop, help improve, co-sponsor with the school, a number of useful projects of value to students, […]
[This material is taken from Education Advisory #11, Feb. 1982. Please comment on present features of PAC’s. TA]
A. Parent as chairperson
Parent input to decision-making is best ensured by a group which maintains its integrity and credibility. If principal and staff are involved, they are generally non-voting and are there as a resource […]
PARENT ADVISORY COUNCILS A long history brings us to the year 2007 when parent advisory councils in BC schools are now more the norm than the exception. Provincial legislation authorizes their existence in public schools when parents organize and apply to constitute such a group. When my children became of school age they […]
Education Advisory #11, Feb. 1982 was a handbook on
PARENT CONSULTATIVE COMMITTEES.
[This material is page 1 from that issue 25 years ago. Comments and feedback are invited. TA]
Why do we need a parent group in every school?
95% of parents’ educational concerns relate to their own school.
Research […]